Month: August 2024

I’ve been using Canva Pro for a few years now and have officially designed 200 designs – mostly for social media. Canva is my go-to design platform. I use Canva mostly for Instagram Story posts, but also for travel proposals, Facebook posts and graphic for this blog. Canva is always keeping me engaged, and I find it’s well worth the small monthly fee I pay to work with them.

Today is August 24, 2024 – and 26 years ago today I graduated from the Yale PA Program with 31 colleagues who have been making a difference in the medical world ever since. I’ve worked in pediatric orthopedics, family medicine, emergency medicine, college health and now am doing telemedicine full time. I love each and every patient interacting. Even though most patients I see these days I have never met before, I do my best to connect with them during our brief encounter and provide the care they need. Such a rewarding career path.

And August 2024 also marks the 2.5 year mark of being a travel advisor for Fora. This year I’ve humbly collected some client reviews and have a growing “book of business” that keeps me busy in most of my free time. I’m currently finalizing a birthday trip to Italy for a friend and her daughter. I love creating custom itineraries and making reservations for great hotels, restaurants and tours.

I’ve also updating my pricing structure. For my “Plan it and Go” custom itineraries, I charge $25 per travel day for US, Mexico and Caribbean and $50 per day for International trips (Europe, Central America, Antarctica, Australia and Central America. I’ve created itineraries for 5 continents so far, and hope to make that all the continents by the end of 2025.

In order to book a travel consultation with me, click here to reserve a time.

Travel season starts now. Stock up on those items you’ll use time and again

After a few small trips in early 2024, my favorite trip so far this year was to Alaska. I visited Anchorage, Seward, Talkeetna, Denali and Fairbanks. I would do it all again in a heartbeat. Hopefully next time, I’ll add-on an Alaska Cruise.

While visiting Alaska, I would highly recommend the Half Day Resurrection Bay Cruise in Seward and the Turnagin Arm Tour. You’ll see wild life and beautiful mountain scenery.

In preparation for my travels, I needed to update some of my luggage, electronics and skin care so that I will have everything I need with me for a trip that changed hotels every night, long flights, and to look radiant after all that time on the plane. Here are my top 10 must haves for the cross country flight.

This Sweetcrispy 24 inch checked bag will be my new best friend. It’s a bit smaller than my 25 inch Travelpro which I absolutely LOVE but it gets a little too heavy for me. I wanted a bag more compact for this 50+ body to manage when changing hotels every night. This new Sweetcrispy bag was perfect – never too heavy and has accompanied me on two trips to the lake since. Highly recommend!

While traveling and at home, favorite skin moisturizer is Diabetics’ Dry Skin Relief from CeraVe. I know that, as a diabetic and a PA, skin care of the legs is paramount to keeping away cracked skin and sores that can cause infection. This cream hydrates and heals the skin to ensure that I will come home without any dry patches. In addition, flying can cause leg swelling in some people and this helps keep the skin from developing chronic rashes.

My iPad mini has aged out and no longer will download the apps needed to watch the entertainment on United. So a new tablet is in order. Trying to avoid the Apple pricetag, since our family is not Apple forward and watching on my laptop which isn’t always practical if you don’t have enough space in your regular economy seat…I took the leap on a new Google Pixel Tablet . I’m so glad I did – the screen is larger than an iPad mini, which my eyes appreciate. But note that with a case, it’s too wide to hang it on the seatback on United. I’ll have to try it on other major airlines in the future. But it stands very nicely on the tray table. Also great for downloading books!

With the Google Pixel Tablet charging tower, it becomes an attractive “smart home” epicenter which I can use as an alarm clock (cue the birds), play my favorite tunes while I fold laundry and make the bed. The best GRWM tunes. And also, someday hopefully, work the thermostats and doorbell camera.

Another item I’m glad I had in Alaska was this portable battery charger. When in Alaska, you cover long distances via bus and train, and often do not have an outlet or cell signal. This charge came in handy so I could continue taking pictures of the ever changing landscape.

Lastly, the biggest winner of my trip to Alaska was these bluetooth headphones. I cannot tell you how I loved having that cord so I wouldn’t lose an earbud down my shirt or down into the depths of a plane, or bus, or train. I grabbed a pair of my kids’ discarded headphones and found them to be my new best friend. They fit nicely in my jeans pocket and I could even listen with one ear so I could hear to bus tour guide when needed.